Brewing beer outdoors (in the coming months September - April)

oldscoil

Hi Folks.

I’m hoping to produce my first brew in a long time, as mentioned in a previous thread.

However I’m having a difficult time convincing the OH to let me brew it in our apartment.

I seem to remember there being quite a fragrance when we brewed it back in the early 90’s, and unfortunately we don’t have a spare room / box room to hide it away in.

However I do have a balconey but it is quite exposed, particularly in the winter months….

So what to do…?!?!?

Should I go for the heating mat in an insulated outdoor “cupboard”,

-or-

Is this venture doomed….

Any info or experience is greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance folks.

Brian

oblivious

Maybe start off with all malt kit, there is no boiling so the one source of smell removed. Fermentation can give off a bit of "Aroma":P But a larger cardboards box can be enough to fit you fermenter can be good way of keeping most of the fermentation "Aroma".

Also in modern building this will be enough to keep you beer warm without the need for extra heart source. But don't keep it beside a radiator or anything like that. A balcony is a bad idea just to much exposure and temp fluctuations.

best of luck with the hobby

Degsy

I'm concerned about my latest batch of cider.Three days ago it got off to a flying start and i got inches of froth on the top but it seems to have either died down or stopped completely,i cant be sure.

The problem is that the room its in isnt heated during the day when i'm not there and i'm concerned it might not be warm enough to allow fermentation..is there a minimum temp for cider and what should i do?

rubadub

Degsy wrote: »

The problem is that the room its in isnt heated during the day when i'm not there and i'm concerned it might not be warm enough to allow fermentation..

Wrap it up in loads of blankets. Fermenting brews generate their own heat. I have heard of people in NZ having to cool down large brews as they get so hot from their own activity.

The blankets will buffer the heat going into the brew and heat going out, and trap some of the generated heat.

Degsy

rubadub wrote: »

Wrap it up in loads of blankets. Fermenting brews generate their own heat. I have heard of people in NZ having to cool down large brews as they get so hot from their own activity.

The blankets will buffer the heat going into the brew and heat going out, and trap some of the generated heat.

Done that already but i think its not going to well..is there any danger it will stop altogether and need to be kickstarted somehow?

rubadub

Degsy wrote: »

Done that already but i think its not going to well..is there any danger it will stop altogether and need to be kickstarted somehow?

Once before I syphoned off a 2L and stuck it in the hotpress to heat it up and get the yeast active again. Then I added it back once it was going, same sort of idea as a starter yeast.

I just came up with that idea on my own, more experienced guys might have better solution -or reason not to do this.

The yeast has to get used to the alcohol content, so if you made a second starter and dumped it into a half fermented alcoholic brew it might get a "shock" and die -this is why I though of doing the 2L bottle. I was not able to move the full barrel.